cannabisnews.com: R.I. Lawmakers Consider Allowing MMJ Stores





R.I. Lawmakers Consider Allowing MMJ Stores
Posted by CN Staff on April 08, 2008 at 15:56:54 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
Providence, R.I.  -- Nonprofit businesses would be allowed to sell marijuana to chronically ill patients under proposals Rhode Island lawmakers are expected to consider this week. The bills would allow so-called "compassion centers" to sell up to 2.5 ounces of the drug every 15 days to a patient or his caregiver if they are enrolled in an existing medical marijuana program overseen by the state Health Department. 
Rhode Island became the eleventh state in the country in 2006 to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, although the drug remains illegal under federal law. And the state law contains a major flaw: it never explains how patients can buy marijuana, since dealing it remains a crime in Rhode Island. Opening distribution centers would eliminate the need for patients to meet with violent drug dealers or travel through areas plagued by drug-related crime, said Rep. Thomas Slater, who sponsored the latest measure. His bill would allow a maximum of three distribution sites in the state. "I think it would be a safe place, an area they could get (marijuana) without a problem," he said. The House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare was expected to hear testimony on Slater's bill Tuesday, although a vote was not expected, said Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker William Murphy.A Senate committee was scheduled to vote on a similar bill Wednesday. The bill is likely to face opposition. Gov. Don Carcieri, a Republican, has repeatedly vetoed bills creating the state's medical marijuana program because it violates federal law. He would also veto any expansion of the program, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated General Assembly have always overridden Carcieri's vetoes. Opening marijuana distribution centers in Rhode Island could also attract unwanted attention from federal law enforcement authorities, Slater said. Federal agents have not targeted patients for enrolling in Rhode Island's medical marijuana program, saying they focus on upper-level drug dealers. But the Drug Enforcement Administration did raid about two dozen marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area last year. The centers were designed to serve patients seeking marijuana for pain relief. A DEA spokesman in Boston did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Complete Title: R.I. Lawmakers Consider Allowing Medical Marijuana StoresSource: Associated Press (Wire)Published: April 8, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Associated Press Related Article: Bill Would Create Marijuana Dispensarieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23798.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by The GCW on April 10, 2008 at 18:30:00 PT
PLANT
US MA: PUB LTE: All plants are good, even the controversial onesWebpage: http://www.heraldnews.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/x1277308328Pubdate: 9 Apr. 2008Source: Herald News, The (Fall River, MA)Referred: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n326/a05.html?269311 
All plants are good, even the controversial ones
 
The Herald News did a fine job partially exposing the complex hypocrisy of America’s prohibition of cannabis (Medical Injustice, March 26) but also exposed another reason its prohibition is perpetuated.
Cannabis shouldn’t be thought of a "drug" but rather a plant. Plant, as in Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page of the Bible. 
XXX(coming soon to MAP)
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Comment #10 posted by w000t311 on April 09, 2008 at 23:20:47 PT:
Hey ekim
my pitch isn't the only thing about me that's high... ;)
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on April 09, 2008 at 20:30:10 PT
please keep singing GCW
w000t311 you a little high pitch but please keep singing-every voice is needed
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 09, 2008 at 14:54:28 PT
Just a Comment
Here is a link about Herbal Medicine. I never thought herbs are controlled like drugs in the USA.What is herbal medicine? Herbal medicine, also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine, refers to the use of any plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Long practiced outside of conventional medicine, herbalism is becoming more mainstream as up-to-date analysis and research show their value in the treatment and prevention of disease. URL: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/herbal-medicine-000351.htm
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Comment #7 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 09, 2008 at 14:37:42 PT
Exactly
Imposed Mindsets:My government thinks I'm some kind of horrible criminal because I like to smoke flowers. And I honestly thought everyone liked flowers :! My wife does...Anyway, I pay my taxes! I should be able to smoke flowers if I want to. 
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on April 09, 2008 at 14:19:18 PT
w000t311,
Thanks for some clarification,isn't there other, "chemical substance(s) that, when absorbed by the body, alters normal bodily functions"?-0-I tend to agree with Your view:"let's not get bogged in semantics, there are more important things to opine about."I just get the feeling that cannabis shouldn't be thought of as a drug and part of the problem is government insistance that cannais is a drug, which then puts it in a negative perspective that can be removed by denying it's a drug at all.If it IS a drug though then My thoughts matter less.Thanks for the input.
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Comment #5 posted by w000t311 on April 09, 2008 at 12:56:08 PT:
#3 GCW
yea, it is a drug. it is a chemical substance that, when absorbed by the body, alters normal bodily functions. it is also an herb. it is both. let's not get bogged in semantics, there are more important things to opine about.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on April 09, 2008 at 09:21:19 PT
"why Americans were silent for so long"?
"Bread and games" and a steady flow of propaganda and lies. Terrify the people, then "Protect" them.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on April 09, 2008 at 05:41:55 PT
"The drug & upper-level drug dealers"
The drug - the drug - the drug.It's a plant. It's an herb. It's not a drug.What We really have is upper-level plant dealers.Upper-level herb dealers.What We really have is lower-level government twits.Stop government from calling cannabis a drug, and We may see them stop calling people upper-level drug dealers.
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Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 09, 2008 at 04:57:08 PT
Thomas Jefferson's Future Commentary on Drug War
After decades of street level summary executions of drug users by police, the drug war is finally ended in America. But as authorities try to unravel what could be the country's worst constitutional abuse case in the nation's history, some wonder how and why Americans were silent for so long. Perhaps it was the federal government's coercive power of persuasion and control that kept the masses fearful. Finally, after a melee of firing congressional representatives in 2008, the people regained faith in the Constitution, and the American legacy lives on.
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 08, 2008 at 20:23:22 PT
Oh! Now the DEA is not even returning calls!
Outrageous! American marijuana law meltdown, what a fantastic drama playing out right before our eyes. Reminds me of Neo in the Matrix:"I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there, is a choice I leave to you.".
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